Horlicks: Nutriquest

Campaign Summary

Horlicks, a malted nutrition drink, had been popular in Malaysia for more than 50 years. But the category has always been dominated by Milo. Horlicks sales declined by 9.9 percent by the end of 2015, even though the category grew by 1.4 percent in the same period. Mindshare Malaysia determined it was necessary to reach kids to sell more Horlicks.

Objective and Context

Traditionally, Horlicks spoke to moms about kids’ nutrition requirements. But kids didn’t associate with Horlicks since it just wasn’t as cool as the energetic Milo. Moms, meanwhile, had become indifferent to Horlicks.

One recent campaign promoted the fact that Horlicks was far superior to Milo in terms of nutritional value, however it didn’t influence purchases.

So the idea was to shift focus and talk to kids to change their perception of Horlicks while continuing to tell moms about Horlicks’ superior nutritional value. The campaign was aimed at modern, tech-savvy kids ages 4-14 and their moms.

Based on primary research, Mindshare Malaysia knew that kids in Malaysia responded favorably to mobile games. The agency needed to design a game that would challenge and inform them while being cool enough to keep kids engaged.

Creative Strategy

A gaming experience, NutriQuest, played on the archetypal theme of Good vs. Evil -- four kids on a quest to rescue the world from the clutches of an evil scientist, Dr. Greedy, who had taken over the Horlicks factory. The Horlicks nutrition narrative was present throughout the game: Nutris, the in-game currency, helped kids to understand the 23 vital nutrients. Coins and boosters -- other in-game currencies -- made kids taller, stronger and sharper.

Outside the game, limited edition packs had codes that unlocked exclusive game content, linking the game directly to sales. Activations featured games with NutriQuest characters.

The game was unveiled in a highly engaging PR event, which was open to moms and kids. The event brought all the key elements of the game live, and the attendees got a chance to interact with various characters of the games and to understand its storyline. NutriQuest was also promoted through TV, online video, social media as well as through key opinion leaders to drive conversation around the game.

On the shelf, not only were all of Horlicks' entire and visuals converted to NutriQuest visuals -- but the product was bundled with NutriQuest souvenirs and giveaways. All this was linked to in-game activation.

Mobile was at the core of this entire execution, which was more than 35 percent of the total campaign budget. The immediate challenge was to excite the audience about the app and drive downloads through environments that resonate with the interest groups of the kids. Various vehicles such as in-app, video, SEM and in-game advertising in kid-friendly environments were used to drive downloads. The game was integrated with product consumption by the use of currency called Nutri-coins. Consumers would get these free Nutri-coins inside the product pack and they would redeem them within the app to unlock various in-game benefits and get souvenirs.

The ads would tease consumers on what lay inside the app, which helped to ensure that those who downloaded the app were genuine in their interest and would be likely to stay active with the game for longer.

Results

Pre-campaign, Horlicks’ market share had declined almost 10 percent, while the brand was low on brand association and favorability among kids. NutriQuest helped Horlicks pass its sales targets in the first two months of the launch by 21.46 percent.

Median game session lengths are good indicators of gamers’ engagement levels. In the case of NutriQuest, the median session length was 10 minutes, five times the industry average of two minutes. On average, every child who installed and played NutriQuest played it 11 other times.

There were more than 50,000 installs of the game on both Android and iOS platforms. NutriQuest delivered an uplift of 46 percent in brand association and 38 percent in brand favorability for Horlicks.

About

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